On the first Saturday of summer, I decided it was time to visit Mount Spokane again. After squeezing my little car into a parking place in the lot at the hairpin turn, I wandered across the road and headed toward trail 100, then up the hill on trail 110 to the saddle junction. I encountered one tree about chest high across the trail on 100. There were lots of other hikers and a few mountain bikes on the trail as well. Everyone was polite, and only one dog was off leash.
There are so many trails to choose from at the saddle junction, and I selected trail 130 toward Day Mountain. Almost immediately, I encountered trees which had fallen across the trail over the winter. Almost all of them were bare of bark and limbs, looking like they were remnants of the fire which burned here many years ago. They were almost all easy to hop over. None presented much difficulty for me on foot. They would be a problem for a horse or a cyclist on this shared use trail though.
After resting and enjoying the view from the rocky outcrop on Day Mountain, I continued down the hill on trail 130 to the Kit Carson Loop Road. There were a couple more trees across the trail above the road, but once I started downhill on the Loop Road, there were no more obstacles, as evidenced by the mountain bikes I saw climbing up the hill. I hiked down to Smith Gap, where I took a break at the picnic table before hiking back to my car on trail 100 which was in good condition except for the first tree I had encountered at the beginning of my hike.
It was a delightful way to spend the first full day of summer. The weather was cool in town, and cooler on the mountain. The slight breeze kept me from overheating as I hiked uphill.
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